Trusty Tools and Toolbox Fun

Although Father's day isn't until mid June, Stampin' Up! usually releases some kind of  masculine stamp set during the launch of the Spring Mini and the Sale-A-Bration sales period.  

This year's release is called Trusty Tools # 163274 and is featured on page 56 of the Mini Catalogue.  This stamp set which includes 16 photopolymer stamp images is a two-step stamp set and comes in English and French versions.   This stamp set can be purchased individually or as a bundle #162723. 

       

Two-step stamping allows you to layer two or more images to create one final image for extra texture and dimension. The tool images are open line-art which is great for colouring with  blends, watercolour pencils or paper piecing.  

The Trusty Tools Dies #162722 includes 20 dies which coordinate well with both the stamp set and the Trusty Toolbox DSP (Sale-a-bration #162978).

Trusty Toolbox DSP  Get it for Free with a $60 purchase during Sale-A-Bration.

The Trusty Toolbox 12" x 12" (30.5 x 30.5 cm) Designer Series Paper has tool designs on one side of each sheet, including hammers, saws, wrenches, drills, and more. It's great for card backgrounds or scrapbook pages. Individual images can be die cut with the Trusty Tools Dies or they can easily be fussy cut.  There is a nice variety of color coordinated all-purpose patterns on the reverse side of the papers.  

HERE ARE MY CARD SAMPLES: 

The tool box dies are easy to assemble, and can be popped up with dimensionals to give a 3-D effect.  I cut out the peg board from Smokey Slate card stock to use as a backdrop for the tools.  The card base is a standard 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at the center. I added a 4 x 5 1/4" layer of Basic Gray after I'd dry embossed it with the Metal Plate 3D embossing folder.  I loved the effect!  All of the tools in the tool box were fussy cut from the Trusty Toolbox designer paper. Some of the folks I stamp with don't like or do die cutting, so I chose to fussy cut these tool images, just to see if they would have any difficulty..... and the answer is "no", they were very easy to cut out. 

I really liked the sentiment "I think it's time for a CELEBRATION", which  is from the Beautiful Balloons (161450) stamp set on page 15 of the Annual catalogue.  I embossed it on a piece of basic black cardstock with white embossing powder.  It fit perfectly on the toolbox front. 

This card features one of the beautiful background papers.  The images are screwdrivers.  I fussy cut a few of the tools from the designer paper and adhered them to the background before adding my focal point.  I added some Rustic Metallic adhesive-backed dots #159082 A/C to the focal point on both card faces.  They worked beautifully.  Somewhere in my stash I know I have some metallic ones that look like screws, so I'm going to dig those out for the next cards I make.  

I always do the insides of my cards and here is the horizontal one.  The saw image was taken from the side of one of the dsp papers and although it's not a full image of the saw blade it worked perfectly in the bottom corner of the inside layer.  

I'll have some more of these cards to share with you over the next little while so please come back soon.  

Happy Stamping!

Penny Token's Stampin' Spot 

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Independent Stampin' Up! Demo 

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Sale-a-brate with Watercolor Melon

Welcome to my blog.  It's been a snowy week here in Abbotsford British Columbia with record breaking low temperatures and the most snowfall in a one day period since 2008.  Last week I could see my daffodils popping through the soil and this week they're buried under a huge mound of snow.  

I like to head to my craft room as much as I can during these cold spells and cozy up with some hot chocolate, my favourite tunes and some stamping.  And this week has been the perfect opportunity to try out some of the stamp sets from the Sale-a-bration 2024 flyer and Mini.  

On page 4 of the Sale-a-bration flyer there's a set called Watercolor Melon (162962).  I got it for free when I placed my last order.  And, you can too, with any $60.00 purchase (before s&h & tax) from Jan 4th to February 29th during the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) promo.

162962  WATERCOLOR MELON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET

When I first looked at the SAB flyer I was not impressed with this stamp set but I decided to order it anyways.  I'm so glad I did.  

This 9 piece photopolymer stamp set is a two-step stamp set which allows you to layer two or more of the images to create one final image.  That means you can create fun images that have extra texture and dimension in the colours you want.  

This stamp set is also a Stampin' Up! Distinktive stamp set, so the image itself adds texture, added depth and dimension in a single step.  Images made with Distinktive stamps are photo-realistic. You can use the the Modern Oval Punch (#162234), to cut out the large watermelon but IMHO you don't need the punch because the images are super easy to fussy cut. 

Tip:  You can stamp the melon in two shades of green for a more realistic look, starting with a darker green ink like garden green and then rotate the image 180 degrees and add a lighter color like Granny Apple Green. The seeds are solid, so you can simply stamp them in a dark colour right over the top of the watermelon.  

Here Are My Card Samples: 

I've only made two cards with this set so far.  They're nothing fancy, I was just doing a test run to see how I liked it.  I definitely did and have lots more ideas that I'll share with you soon. 

For the Garden Green layer I randomly stamped the large melon and leaf image on a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" sheet of Garden Green cardstock.  I stamped the same full melon and slice for each of the inside layers.  The last card features some of the beautiful large black check ribbon from the Holiday Mini which has been carried over.  The top slice of melon is popped up on dimensionals.  Here are the supplies I used to make these cards. 

Supplies:

Stamp Sets:

• Watercolor Melon 162962, Perennial Postage 162598

Cardstock:    

• Whisper White, Early Espresso, Garden Green

Ink:

• Sweet Sorbet, Garden Green,l Momento Black 

Accessories: 

• Black and Very Vanilla Large Check Ribbon (carried over from Holiday Mini. #161982
• Scalloped Contour Dies (AC) 
• Iridescent Adhesive Backed Discs (161954
• Tombo Glue, Dimensionals, Acrylic blocks (a,c,d)

I hope you enjoyed these Watercolor Melon cards.  Let me know your thoughts on this set.  

HAPPY STAMPING!
PENNY TOKENS' STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, CDN Independent Stampin' Up! Demo

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